insight - Burges Salmon

Peter Morris, Managing PartnerBEYOND LEGALADVICEDelivering excellent client service is much more thanproviding good legal advice. We believe that it shouldunderpin everything we do for our clients, so thatthe client experience of working with us is second tonone. We appreciate that delivering excellent clientservice has to be an on-going commitment whichrequires us to continuously challenge ourselves toimprove everything we do.To illustrate our approach, we are again sharing a series ofcase studies in this year’s Insight which I hope demonstratesa variety of ways in which our approach to client servicemakes a significant difference for our clients. Whether thisis going the extra mile to prepare a winning appeal at shortnotice, using our sector knowledge to navigate complexlegal and commercial issues, or innovating to ensure valuefor money – we will always strive to field the right teamfor you to ensure we provide you with an excellent service.The amenities available for both clients and lawyers atour two offices enable us to provide the same high qualityservices from either location. Our head office is located inTemple Quay, Bristol and in London we have recently movedto the award winning development at New Street Square,EC4 between the City of London and the law courts.We continue to invest in our people to ensure that we canprovide the high quality and broad range of services requiredby our clients. As Alan reported in his introduction, we madeup seven senior associates to partner this year representinga 10% increase in the partnership. Supplemented by somestrategic lateral hire partners, their unique skills bolsteran already broad-based, talented team of senior lawyers,enabling us to continue to offer a genuinely partner-ledservice. This is just one example of why our clients chooseto work with us: “We work with Burges Salmon because theteam cares about our problems as much as we do, if notmore. Nothing is too much trouble.”The calibre of our business services teams is also vital tothe quality of service we are able to provide. Whether actingas project managers on complex pieces of work, hostingclient training days, or simply offering a warm welcome andoutstanding day-to-day service, the whole team knows thattheir contribution can make a difference. Nothing pleasesme more than receiving unsolicited client comments such asin one recent email: “We were blown away by the consistentlevel of professionalism we encountered...”.Having recently been reassessed for the Investors in Peopleaward, we were delighted that our assessor was “totallysatisfied that Burges Salmon LLP meets the requirementsof the Investors in People National Standard” and particularlypleased that “it was clear from the interviews that everyonehas a real passion for what they are trying to achieve and forhelping to promote Burges Salmon as a leading legal firm.”It is that passion for what we do that drives our desire toprovide excellent client service at all times.Alongside this, our corporate responsibility programmecontinues to go from strength to strength – as you canread on pages 24 & 25 of this review. Through the firm’scombined efforts we have completed more volunteeringhours than ever before during 2012.We hope you will find in the following pages further evidenceof our client service principles in action, in the words of ourclients and the lawyers involved. Finally, if you have anyfeedback on this annual review, or questions about any ofthe information contained in this publication, please do nothesitate to get in touch.peter.morris@burges-salmon.com6 INSIGHT Burges Salmon Annual Review 2012